Beneath The Glassy Surface
by shadowxofxdarkness
Summary: Coral has always loved working on boats and with marine life. She gets a great opportunity to work with Dr. McCallister and the other scientists with the test sharks. However, things do not go as planned and there is more to the test sharks than meets the eye.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Deep Blue Sea. I only own Coral.

Story Start

Starting a new job is always exciting and nerve wracking at the same time. My nerves were a mess as I sat in a boat amongst other people on their way to the science building happily sitting in the middle of the ocean. I had a small idea of what I was getting into, but my curiosity grew even more at the amount of scientists that sat on the boat around me.

I was never one to make small talk and shark bite on my right shoulder close to my neck did not make the scientists, who happily study sharks, feel any better about approaching me. The scar tissue was immense, but thankfully my muscles were able to recuperate after the shark bite, which happened when I was a teenager. I was now in my mid-twenties, and I was ready for some peace away from the real world.

I have not been able to get a real job in the last few years because I was only good at deep sea diving, swimming with and catching dangerous animals, and being a smartass. My parents were so proud, not at all, they disowned me years ago when I refused to go to college. Education was important, but the only thing important to me was the ocean. I just wanted to be part of the ocean ever since I was a kid growing up in the Gulf of Mexico.

"Hey, we're almost there, are you excited?" a woman with short blonde hair asked me happily before she glanced at a man wearing a Hawaiian shirt.

"Yeah, I'm interested to see what kind of sharks you guys have," I answered the woman while moving my long black hair out of the way of my cloudy grey eyes.

"I'm Janice Higgins, nice to meet you," the woman introduced herself and we shook hands.

"Coral, no last name necessary," I said and she gave a small laugh.

Janice looked like she wanted to say more but the boat was slowing down to stop by the dock. People grabbed their bags and happily chatted while walking on the walkways to get into the facility. My tan skin shown in the sun as I picked up my duffel bag and jumped off the boat. Janice was walking ahead with the man with the Hawaiian shirt, but I was more interested in catching a glimpse at the sharks I would now be swimming with.

That's right, I was hired to help take care of the sharks and also get the sharks into the labs and so on when the doctor needed them. I had been interviewed by the lead doctor in charge in a bar. I knew that Dr. Susan McCallister needed someone crazy enough to do this job and also not ask questions. I needed a job and this job was as close to what I desired, so I was definitely going to keep my mouth shut.

"You must be Coral, I'm Carter Blake," a man with blonde hair said as he approached me in a wetsuit.

"That's me, nice to meet you," I said and we shook his hands, but moving my arm made the white scars stand out to him. "Happened years ago, and I think it had the opposite effect. I like sharks even more after being bitten by one," I told him with a smirk.

"Oh yeah, you'll fit in here," he muttered to me before he started walking towards the area where the sharks are kept.

"They're mako sharks, the largest is the female, and the two smaller ones are males," Carter explained as a large shadow glided underneath and my heart jumped.

"Was that the female or a male?" I questioned Carter and he told me male. "Amazing yet messed up at the same time, what are you feeding these things?" I tried to joke even though dealing with these types of sharks will not be a joke at all. I had swum with great whites before, but these sharks were putting great whites to shame at the moment.

"Other sharks," he grumbled and my eyebrows tried to disappear past my hairline.

"You're kidding," I whispered before seeing the same shark circle back and it swam with its head a bit above water so we could see its eyes. I stared it down before it disappeared deeper under the water. I watched its fin disappear with a small shiver, but not of fear, it was of excitement. "Well this is going to be the most interesting job I've had yet," I said breaking up the tension I could feel coming off Carter.

"You have no idea, I'll show you to your quarters and then to our area of this place," he told me.

I gave one last look at the ocean containing the sharks before looking at the fence. "Doesn't look high enough," I thought before following Carter into the facility. The elevator was not a comfortable one to be on, but I always hated elevators even if this one didn't lead into a tall building in the air. My quarters were basic and comfortable enough. I locked my duffel bag in the locker in the room before I followed Carter to the sub area/mechanic area.

He spent the next few hours explaining the equipment we would use, which I was familiar with most of it. He also told me how the doctors would use the mini submarine to observe the sharks. Carter would be teaching me how to drive it eventually, which was interesting. I would learn what I had to so I could continue working here. I had nothing waiting for me back home.

Later that evening, Carter and I made our way to the mess hall, and Carter introduced me to Preacher, the chef. The sarcastic cursing bird on Preacher's shoulder just made me smile. It seemed I was already getting along well with the sarcastic members of this ocean facility of science. Preacher's food really was amazing. He was pleased to know I approved, and then he went on telling me about what he would fix for breakfast.

"Preacher, don't spoil the surprise, anyways I should be getting to bed. Night guys," I told Carter and Preacher. They said good night or waved and I waved at a smiling Janice before leaving the mess hall. I used the elevator to go up to the surface one last time before I disappeared under the water again to sleep in my quarters. I had never stayed in a room under water but it should prove to be interesting.

"This will definitely be a unique experience," I whispered when I finally reached surface level and breathed in the ocean breeze. "If only I could sleep out here and not risk rolling into the shark's area," I muttered with a laugh as I looked up at the stars. They were always so much prettier over the ocean.

A splash near the walkway she was standing on made her look down. The lights were shining as well as the stars above. The moon helped her see that one of the male sharks was swimming right beside the walkway. She had yet to see the female, but she could only imagine the female's size after seeing the male again.

"Well I guess we're now going to be seeing more of each other," she said with a small chuckle when she saw the shark move so its eye was staring at her while it swam. "Good night," she told the shark with a smirk before disappearing back into the facility. "Definitely going to be interesting," she thought before crashing onto her bed in her quarters.


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Deep Blue Sea. I only own Coral.

Story Start

When Dr. McCallister said early wake up calls, I didn't know I would be woken up early by the woman in the watch tower. She was singing happily some song that I did not even want to try to identify because I was not a morning person. The only good thing about today is that I was going to get to swim with a shark that was meant to be food for the other sharks. Carter had told me about today's plan sometime last night during dinner.

I pulled my hair up and braided it before slipping on some clothes that would be easy to put under the wet suit for later. Makeup was nonexistent in my lifestyle so I just brushed my teeth and walked to the mess hall for some breakfast. Preacher and the bird were working away in the kitchen while some people were helping themselves to breakfast. I saw Dr. McCallister enjoying some coffee while Carter and Tom were eating at a table. I grabbed a plate with some eggs, toast, bacon, and fruit before I joined them.

"You ready to work today?" Carter asked me before Tom could try to flirt with me.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I told him with a shrug and then took a bite of my breakfast.

The rest of breakfast flew by quickly and so did the training session with Carter on some of the equipment we would be using today. I could tell in this business there was not many room for mistakes, but also not a lot of room for training. I was lucky enough to know pretty much all the equipment already. He threw me a wet suit, which I put on with no questions asked. He told me he would do the haggling with the shark catchers since he knew the guys best and he could get a good price.

I was never a fan of haggling anyways in terms of prices, especially not over sharks. I had never cared for shark catchers, but I was going to deal with what I had to so I could make a living. I didn't have any other options truthfully. While Carter led the way outside to meet the shark catchers, I walked around the perimeter of the test sharks' area.

It was a nice day out on the ocean, but beneath that beautiful surface was something I could only imagine. I was exhilarated about being able to go into the small cage system in the test sharks' area later today. I was not excited about seeing another shark being devoured, but I just wanted to see these creatures up close. None of the sharks swam towards the surface while I walked around, but I did see a weird colorful object floating around underneath the water. I might see if Tom could check the cameras later to see what it was if we had time.

"Coral, you ready?" Carter shouted to catch my attention.

"Yeah," I replied and walked over to stand by the smaller area. Part of the rope was stuck in the large tiger sharks' teeth and around it's head. "This will be fun," I said with a smirk before diving into the water. When I resurfaced and swam into the center of the enclosure, Carter released the shark. I stayed calm as it swam towards me, but I could feel my adrenaline rushing.

The shark opened its jaws to see if I was something edible or not, but I pushed down on its upper jaw, swam over it and grabbed the rope. The shark tried to turn back around and bite me, but I dove under the water underneath its head. I swam completely to the other side of its body, pulled the rope free from its mouth, and then I grabbed its dorsal fin. The shark thrashed a bit more, but in its thrashing, it swam closer to the walkway and a ladder. I let go of the shark and swam towards the ladder.

Carter was standing at the top of the ladder and he gave me a hand up out of the water. "Good job, but that's nothing compared to the others," he said looking over to the test sharks' area, where surprisingly the two male sharks were swimming at the surface.

"True, but I'm sure they're hungry, when do we feed them?" I questioned while unzipping the top of my wet suit and pushing it down to my waist.

"In a few hours, first we need to make sure they're doing ok," he replied even though he sounded a bit bitter at the fact we had to check up on the sharks.

"Well that doesn't sound too bad," I said with a shrug before walking back into the facility to gather the correct gear. Carter was right behind me the entire way and he opened the hatch that led into the small swimming area that was caged.

He went first and I jumped down next. He surprised me by having a gun with him, but once again he's been up close and personal with these sharks and I haven't, so I'm not going to judge. I swam without a weapon, but I might need to change that with these three sharks.

Everything seemed so much eerier under the surface as we swam through the caged area. Carter checked all of the cameras the best he could while I swam ahead to see if I could actually see the sharks. They were evading our sight. The enclosure was bigger than I thought, but it had to be with the sharks we had here.

Carter grabbing my ankle made me turn back to look at him. He was pointing to his right and I looked over to see the largest shark I have ever seen. It was the female and she swam through the water like she owned it, and from my viewpoint, she did. The two male sharks were swimming behind her in a v shape. The female swam underneath the caged area, but the two males did not. They swam in circles around the area, and they even backed off a bit when Carter pointed the gun at them.

"They shouldn't be able to recognize what that is," flashed through my mind as I stared eye to eye with the two male sharks. It was almost like they were investigating the new person, me. They were beautiful. You'd have to be a fool to not realize that they truly were beautiful and magnificent creatures, deadly and strong, but beautiful.

Carter pulled again on my ankle and motioned for us to go back to the surface. He turned around and swam back the way we had come first, but something flashing made me pause. In one of the male shark's mouth was a brightly colored shell bracelet. It wasn't one of the cheap ones you could get at any tourist attraction at a beach. It was beautiful and authentic shells that you could only find when deep sea diving.

The shark shook its head and the bracelet floated close to the cage. I watched the sharks warily before using my fingers to reach through the cage and grab the bracelet. I slipped it on my wrist over my wet suit before watching the sharks back away from me. I swam back to the facility and happily got out of the water.

Carter was already out of his wet suit and drying his hair a bit with a towel. He tossed me a towel after I took off my own wet suit. I just wrapped it around my neck so my hair would quit dripping on my clothes. He gave me a weird look when he saw the bracelet on my wrist.

"Where did you get that?" he asked. He gently took hold of my hand and looked at the bracelet more. "I've never seen anything like this before," he continued.

"It was in the shark enclosure, it floated towards the cage when you were leaving," I answered and looked at the bracelet myself. The shells were beautiful, but as I looked closer, I could see small shark teeth from a baby shark, were mixed in as well. "Maybe one of the people who work here dropped it?" I suggested and he shook his head.

"Like I said, I've never seen anything like that before," he muttered before saying we had a few hours to relax. He talked about seeing Tom about the fences while I decided to go up to the surface, after grabbing some lunch first, and then I went up to eat my lunch on the walkway of the shark enclosures.

The tiger shark was still swimming around content in its area, while the other shark area was still. The three test sharks must have been further down below where they were not detected by anybody but the cameras.

I sat down and started eating the sandwich that I had grabbed from the mess hall. A bottle of water and an apple sat on the other side of me while I ate. It was definitely peaceful until one of the shark teeth on the bracelet punctured my skin a bit. With a frown, I looked down and moved the bracelet. I went to look at where the bracelet had poked my skin, but no wound was there. A small red spot was there, but that was all. I could have sworn that I felt it cut me though. I should see blood instead of red skin.

"Weird," I muttered before looking up to see that the two male sharks were now smoothly gliding through the water right in front of me. I felt like being silly so I waved at the sharks with a grin before finishing my lunch and heading back inside.


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Deep Blue Sea. I only own Coral.

Story Start

"Coral grab your wet suit and report to the surface now," the woman in the tower yelled as loud as she could and I practically jumped off my bed to greet the floor with my face.

"What the hell?" I growled pushing myself off the floor to jump up and grab my wet suit, which was hanging on my locker in my room. I scrubbed my face with my hand while rushing to the elevator. Carter was nowhere to be seen but I'm sure I would see his unhappy face as well when I reached the surface. The lights around the facility were slightly glaring this late at night and just waking up did not help diminish the glare. "Carter, what's going on?" I yelled loudly after the elevator reached the surface.

Carter was preparing the boat and surprisingly enough some harpoon slash crossbow type thing. I had never seen this piece of equipment so far since I've been at the facility. He was not in his wet suit yet but I saw it lying on a seat on the boat.

"One of the damn sharks escaped," Carter griped while starting the boat.

I ran over and jumped on the boat and he pulled away from the dock. "What do you mean the shark escaped? Was it the female or a male?" I yelled over the sound of the boat engine. Looking back at the shark test area, I saw the large female's fin gliding through the water without a pattern, but the other male was staying close to where he could see the boat. "A male got out then," I answered my own question since Carter was too focused on tracking down the shark. "Has this happened before I arrived here?" I asked him and his annoyed scowl answered that question. "Great, have the sharks tried to attack any boats or people before?" I inquired trying to gather as much information as I could before we did find the escaped male shark.

"Nobody has ever been out this far, but tonight there is a boat close to us, and not a big one either," Carter yelled back to me and I quickly slipped on my wet suit.

"Well let's get there before the shark does," I muttered as I viewed the ocean trying to see the shark even though it was dark with only the boat's light and starlight to assist.

The sight of a boat sitting in the water ahead of us made Carter slow down our boat until we were at a complete stop. The engine shut off so the noise would not bother the shark. I looked at the two young couples enjoying themselves before focusing back on the water. We were practically using this boat and the four teens as bait, and the noise they were making was definitely perfect bait. Carter was preparing the strange harpoon type equipment while I walked closer to the edge of our boat. The water resembled a mirror with how dark and still it was.

"Don't fall in," Carter told me and I just rolled my eyes.

"Don't worry, I was planning on jumping in anyways," I grumbled before flinching when I felt the bracelet poke my skin again, and once again I did not see a puncture wound, just a red mark on my skin. "I should just throw you away," I thought glancing at the jewelry even though I knew I would not.

A scream of absolute terror made both Carter and I jump to attention. My eyes widened at the sight of the shark busting through the bottom of the boat and trying to bite one of the four teens. The display of power was magnificent and I could understand why they were screaming bloody murder. I'm sure they would have nightmares the rest of their life if we saved them in time. Carter raised the equipment and cursed when the four teens fell off either side of the boat.

"It's attacking the right side," I yelled as I saw the shark charging straight towards the teens on the right side of the boat. My heart beat rapidly as I watched the shark swim with absolute purpose of sinking his teeth into someone. I looked at Carter and watched as he took the shot.

The shark froze for just a moment at the feel of the initial harpoon type object, which must have injected something into its bloodstream, a tranquilizer no doubt. However, it gave a shake and quickly started moving towards the screaming teens again. Carter raised the gun again and took another shot. This shot hit true as well, and this time the shark did stop. The ropes attached to the two tranquilizer darts also restrained it.

"Get back on your boat, now," I yelled to the teens, but they were still panicking. "This is why panicking doesn't help anything but I can't blame them," I grumbled before diving off the side of the boat whether Carter approved or not. The four teens could drown if they kept panicking. Of course, Carter definitely cursed at me and called me an idiot when I jumped into the ocean. I swam as fast as I could without getting too close to the drugged shark. Having no clue how long the tranquilizers worked, I helped the two teens on the right side of the boat first. The guy calmed down faster than the girl, but he was able to help me get her on their boat. She might have kicked me a few times too many but I didn't have time to worry about it. I swam over to the other side and helped the other two as well, and these two were definitely calmer than the other pair.

"Thank you," one of the girls said softly and I gave a nod before pulling myself up onto their boat.

"I'm going to make sure this thing still works," I told them and went over to the front of the boat. I heard the others whispering fretfully about the shark, and I had no doubt that they would be reporting this incident, which would cause some chaos for the facility and Dr. McCallister. "Great, I get an awesome job and I might lose it because somebody at the facility did not do what they were supposed to do," I thought while smiling at the fact that the boat did start and it did not have any weird sounds coming from the engine. "You're good to go, just be careful," I told them before looking over at the facility's boat.

Carter had pulled the shark a bit closer to the boat, but unfortunately the ropes allowed it to swim to either side and underneath if the tranquilizer decided to wear off. He gave me a wave to hurry up and I looked at the shark, who did not seem to be fully mobile again yet. With a nod at Carter, I dove off the teen's boat and swam towards our boat. Carter was keeping an actual gun trained on the shark while I swam closer. The shark was moving slightly in the water to keep breathing and I swam to the other side to pull myself up. However, a strange feeling on my ankle made me pause. I looked down at my ankle and gasped when another one of the bracelets was now around my ankle, which had a few red spots on my skin. The shark teeth on the bracelet had also poked my skin as well.

"Well hurry up, we need to get it back to the enclosure before the tranquilizer wears off," Carter yelled from his spot on the boat.

"Coming," I snapped while my ears looked around the water, but I did not anything. However, there was no way another one of these bracelets could just magically appear on my ankle. "Just get on the boat, it's just a bracelet," I whispered to myself while pulling myself up onto the boat to stand by Carter.

"Well that wasn't the smartest thing ever," Carter told me with a raised eyebrow.

"We work with sharks for a living, we aren't the smartest of individuals," I quipped back to him before walking over to the edge of the boat to stare down at the shark.

The shark looked up at me and I frowned when I felt the bracelet on my ankle poke my skin again. The bracelet on my wrist poked me again and I gave a small growl before sitting down so I could keep a close eye on the shark as we went back to the facility. Riding back to the facility was quiet but I could tell Carter was angry. He was muttering about how the sharks were getting smarter and more dangerous by the day. I was surprised to hear him say that this was the first time a shark attacked a boat to try to get to people. With the size of the shark, I could easily see it breaking through the boat, but the intent of why was unnerving.

"That doctor is doing more to you guys than she says," I muttered looking down at the shark before noticing that we were almost back at the facility. "Let's get this big guy back in the enclosure and then I'm sleeping late whether she likes it or not," I told Carter, who just smirked at me.

"Sounds like a plan, but don't sleep too late or you'll miss feeding time tomorrow," Carter replied while turning off the boat.

We worked together to get the shark in the net and crane before depositing the shark back in the enclosure with the other two. The female was nowhere to be seen, but the other male was swimming at the surface as if waiting for his brother. I watched Carter move the crane away from the water's surface and back to where it was originally. He gave me a wave before disappearing into the facility to go wherever. Walking to the edge of the enclosure I watched the male sharks swim deeper into the ocean and disappear from sight.

"Tom's in trouble," I grumbled but first I needed some more sleep. My bed was calling for my tired body as I walked away from the enclosure to get to the elevator. With one last look at the enclosure, the doors to the elevator shut and I made my way back to my room. "No early wake up calls or I'm throwing someone in the enclosure instead," I grumbled before falling asleep.

"Coral, report to the surface," the woman spoke over the intercom and my eyes opened in a glare.

"That's it, I'm killing someone, preferably her if she sings again this morning," I groaned while sitting up on the bed before making myself stand. My wet suit seemed to taunt me today after barely sleeping last night. I trudged over to the wet suit, slipped it on, and brushed my hair. Making my way to the kitchen was first on the list since I had not had anything to eat yet. Priest gave me a biscuit and a carton of juice when he saw my deadpan expression. I thanked him before making my way finally to the surface. The biscuit was devoured in no time so I drank my juice while walking to stand by Carter, who was talking with more of the shark hunters. Another tiger shark hung in their net, but this one had a license plate in its mouth.

"Do you want to do it this morning or me?" Carter questioned when he saw the dark circles under my eyes.

"I vote we let Tom do it since he let something escape last night," I grumbled and Carter smirked at me.

"I like that idea but the boss won't," Carter told me and I just shrugged.

"You can do it today, I'll get the next one," I told him before noticing that he was looking at my ankle, which was still sporting the bracelet from last night.

"Where did you find another one?" Carter questioned while bending down to see my ankle closer.

"They're just floating everywhere," I said with a yawn before looking at my wrist and ankle. I still don't know why I haven't tried to take the bracelets off yet, but I must have been too tired to care. "I'll take them off later," I thought while watching Carter pay the shark hunters. I tossed my juice carton into a trash nearby before making my way over to the shark enclosure. None of the sharks were swimming at the surface today, but I could have sworn I saw something else brightly colored floating around under the water.

"I need sleep," I spoke aloud before glaring at Tom, who was over talking with Carter. "Or to throw him in there," I grumbled before making sure Tom saw my glare. "You're lucky I'm not evil," I thought before taking a seat at the edge of the shark enclosure, but I kept my legs on the walkway. "So what does today hold for me?" I thought while looking up at the sky.

The sight of a red helicopter heading towards the facility made me tilt my head. "Knew she'd get some hell for the shark escape and attack," I thought when I could just barely make out the sight of Dr. McCallister flying the helicopter with a man in a suit sitting beside her. "This is going to be fun," I whispered while looking at the enclosure to see the male sharks swimming around in front of me before disappearing under the water surface when the helicopter landed onto the facility landing space.


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own Deep Blue Sea. I only own Coral.

Story Start

"Seems like the Doc got herself into trouble, thanks again Tom," I shouted while walking over to stand by Carter, who looked unhappy about the visitor as well, but for his own reasons. "Do you not trust guys in suits?" I questioned him while watching his glare intensify.

"Who does?" Carter asked me.

"You have a point there," I replied with a chuckle.

We watched Janice greet the new guy as Carter got ready to dive in with the shark. I watched him with a smirk since this was the first time I really got to see him work with a shark up close and personal. The twelve foot tiger shark was exquisite as it swam through the water. The license plate was stuck in its teeth still.

The new man yelled in shock when Carter swam in the enclosure with the tiger shark. I stood at the edge of the walkway watching comfortably. I knew Carter could handle himself since he had been doing so before I arrived at the facility to help him. He definitely had a nice body to watch as well while he swam with the shark. I looked over at the other enclosure but none of the test sharks were swimming at the top.

"Coral, meet Russell Franklin, he's here to see our research," Janice said shaking me out of my focus on the enclosures.

My eyes drifted up to the new man with a smirk at his surprised expression. I shook his hand and he gave me a glance before looking back at Carter, who had just thrown the license plate onto a walkway in front of Dr. McCallister. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Franklin," I said before running off the walkway to dive into the water with the tiger shark. I still had to lead it to the opening in the enclosure that led to a small holding area where we could get the net around it easier.

"Is she crazy too?" Russell yelled at Janice after watching me jump willingly into the water.

"No, that's just Coral. She's here to help with the sharks as well," Janice replied with a smile even though the ease that Coral had around the sharks was a bit unnerving.

Getting away from the business man was relieving. I looked around under water for the opening and smirked at the sight of the tiger shark swimming right towards me. "Just what I wanted," I thought while opening the hatch that led to the smaller containment area for the bait sharks. The tiger shark went to snap its jaws around me but I spun out of the way and it swam right into the opening for the smaller area. I slammed the hatch closed and locked it before swimming back to the surface.

"Did you get it locked?" Carter yelled to me from where he was standing with the doctor.

"Of course," I yelled back before swimming through the empty enclosure to get on the walkway by him and the doctor. The doctor rushed off in a hurry and I pulled myself up onto the walkway. "Did you get her to listen to you about the test sharks?" I asked him.

"Of course not," he grumbled and glared at the test sharks that were gliding just beneath the surface while Russell and Janice looked at them.

"Should we scare the suit?" I asked him while ringing the water out of my hair.

"I think he already is," Carter said and I chuckled.

"Now if only the doctor was," I said and he nodded in agreement.

"I don't know if she's scared of anything," he said and walked off.

"She is, she's scared of having a life besides her research," I muttered before watching Carter run into Janice and Russell. I walked over to the test shark enclosure while he introduced himself to the suit. "Show time I guess guys," I told the water that held the test sharks. "Just try not to eat the guest of honor," I muttered and laughed at my own sarcasm.

The lady in the watch tower announced that a storm was heading this way, which would be important to the crew that was leaving for the weekend. I stayed at the facility pretty much 24/7, which was fine with me. I had nowhere else to go anyway. Another pinch of my leg made me look down and glare at the bracelet on my ankle. "Where do these things keep coming from?" I whispered before looking back down at the water. "Oh well, at least they're nice to look at," I muttered and started doing the routine afternoon checks that Carter and I had to do.

I spent time hanging out with Preacher in the kitchen until it was time to set up outside for the doctor's birthday. It was going to be a surprise for the doctor, but who knew if she could actually have fun. The woman reminded me of a robot sometimes. Preacher and I set up the bar and waited behind it quietly while the announcement went out that the doctor was wanted on the surface.

"Hopefully she doesn't jump into the enclosure out of her surprise," I thought and poked my head around the bar to see if she was there yet or not. "Get ready, three, two, one," I whispered when I spotted her.

Flares were shot into the air before everyone jumped out and shouted surprise. Dr. McCallister definitely jumped but thankfully not into the shark enclosures. The tiger shark was swimming in an aggravated manner in its small enclosure. The test sharks were nowhere to be seen.

"Time to drink," Preacher muttered.

"So that's what you were excited about," I told him pushing his shoulder gently and he rolled his eyes.

"It's a party so of course I'm ready to drink, so what do you want?" he questioned me while holding up a bottle of tequila.

"No thanks, I don't think drinking is a good idea. Remember I'm the crazy lady that willingly swims with sharks, give me liquor, and I might just go swim with the sharks naked," I said and smirked when he busted out laughing.

"If we were anywhere else I might want to see that, but nobody should swim with those monsters," Preacher said and went to work making a drink for Russell.

"But are they truly monsters or is science the monster?" I thought with a frown before sneaking away from the party to go stand by the shark enclosure.


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own Deep Blue Sea. I only own Coral.

Story Start

The party was going fine up above where I was sitting peacefully by the shark enclosure. The test sharks still weren't anywhere to be seen, but that was all right. I would see them soon enough. Tom looked over the railing and frowned when he saw me by myself. I could practically see his drunkenness from there since he was slightly wobbling where he stood.

"Why are you down there alone?" he slurred while pointing his drink at me.

"I'm not alone," I said tilting my head back to stare at the stars. They truly were the most beautiful thing at night on the ocean.

"Yes, you are, you're alone," Tom slurred back.

"Totally not alone, because I have me, myself, and I," I yelled back and he cursed at me.

"Get up here and have fun already," shouted before stumbling back to dance with Janice.

"Fine, fine, let's go join the drunken scientists," I muttered and stood up but paused when I heard some splashing. The area where I was sitting was dark and I could not see if one of the sharks was swimming at the surface or not. I looked out at the water, but I really should have been looking down at my ankles. I had been standing closer to the edge of the walkway than I had first thought.

I didn't even have time to scream as a webbed hand grabbed my ankle and pulled me into the water of the test shark enclosure. The music from the party was loud enough that my splash into the water went unheard. My eyes immediately opened and tried to focus in the water when I did not feel teeth sinking into my flesh. I kicked at whatever had been holding my ankle, but it was nowhere to be seen.

Looking each way, I swam back up to the surface and grabbed the walkway edge. I almost pulled myself up halfway, but now two arms latched around my waist. "Carter," I screamed as loud as I could before I was pulled under the water, and I was pulled deeper into the water at a fast pace. My ears popped and my eyes burned at the feeling of the salt water rushing by so powerfully, but I still had not felt teeth or seen my attacker.

I gathered all my strength and tore the arms off my waist and spun around in the water. My breath threatened to leave me at the sight before me. A man, no, not just any man, but a merman was swimming in the water right in front of me. He had long dark blue grey hair, pitch black eyes, pointed ears, gills on his neck, scars on his body, and a shark type tail instead of what a mermaid has.

He reached out towards me and I swam backwards not even looking where I was going. My eyes could barely even believe what was swimming right in front of me, a merman was in the test shark enclosure. My swim backwards was halted rapidly when a shark's tail fin hit my back. I looked behind me and really did almost release all of my air when I watched a test shark turn into another merman, but he was slightly smaller than the other one, and he had long dark black hair.

Breath was leaving me too fast for my liking as the two mermen circled me with their eyes never leaving me. The bracelets pricked my skin again while I looked around hoping that the female test shark did not show up. I had no clue where she was, but if I survived this, I was going to look at the cameras as soon as I could.

A bright light shone on the surface of the enclosure's water and I looked up momentarily forgetting my predicament. Four arms wrapping around my waist made me cough out whatever remaining air I had. I started to struggle but the arms only tightened. I was now face to face with the larger merman and he was staring at me so stoically. His dark black eyes seemed to swallow me whole as I struggled to get free to breathe.

"Coral," was whispered in my ear by the other merman before the one in front of me kissed me.

My eyes widened in disbelief as I felt the merman force air into my lungs with the kiss. My eyes watered and my hands clutched his arms tightly as he continued to help me breathe in the kiss. A shiver traveled down my spine when I felt the other merman kiss my shoulder. The other merman let go of me, but I felt him slip something onto my wrist and ankle that did not have a bracelet.

"Soon," echoed in my mind before the merman stopped kissing me and turned back into a shark.

I looked behind me to see the other merman was also a shark again. With a confused mind, tingling lips, and an erratic heartbeat, I swam as fast as I could to the surface. Of course now was the time that the female test shark decided she wanted to say hello. She swam right below me as I raced to the surface. Her jaws never opened but I did see a small necklace come loose from her teeth.

The necklace floated to the surface at the same time I took a big gasp of air. "Carter," I screamed again and grabbed the necklace before swimming to the walkway. Carter's yell for me to hurry was unnecessary as I felt the three sharks swimming behind me. I knew they could catch me, they should have caught me and ate me, but after what I just saw, normal expectations were out the window.

"Grab my hand," Carter shouted and I happily did so. He pulled me up onto the walkway and we both watched with quick breaths as the sharks disappeared into the depths. The necklace was still clutched tightly in my shaking hands. "Are you all right? What happened? Why were you in there? Did you drink too much or something to be that dumb? You could have died," Carter started yelling in a way that would make a drill sergeant jealous.

"The cameras," was the only thing I could say before I was up and running to the elevator. I knew the cameras were on the entire time so they had to have captured what happened to me down there. I knew I was not going crazy, I couldn't be. The necklace and now four bracelets on my wrists and ankles were proof enough that what happened was real. I ran to the lab with the computers controlling and recording the cameras as fast as I could. My hope of seeing footage of my experience washed down the drain when I saw all of the computers off and the cameras weren't flashing green.

A passed out and drunk Tom was my answer to why the cameras and computers were off. I turned them and tried to find the last hour of footage, but the cameras had been shut down for three hours straight. A scream tore through my lungs in frustration. The feel of shells in my hand made me look at the shell and pearl necklace. A large shark tooth was the pendant for the necklace.

"What is going on?" I whispered and quietly put on the necklace. A shadow rushed past the glass.

With cautious eyes I looked up and stared in fascinated horror at the sight of the female shark at the glass. She was staring me down with her soulless like eyes. With a gasp, I watched the shark turn into a mermaid, but she too had scars, long grey hair, and a shark tail. She also had the same jewelry that I was now wearing. She stared me down a few more minutes before smirking at me and swimming away in her shark form.

"No way," left my lips before I passed out next to Tom on the cold hard floor of the lab.


	6. Chapter 6

I do not own Deep Blue Sea. I only own Coral.

Story Start

Waking up in my own bed was not what I expected the next morning. I rubbed my aching head, which had a bump on the back of it, as I stepped out of my bed and walked out of my room. I met an excited Janice and a grouchy Jim Whitlock. The two were talking about the experiment that would occur tonight. They tried to include me in the conversation but my mind was still reeling from what had happened last night in the test shark enclosure.

"Coral, girl, get over here now," Preacher yelled from the kitchen and I glared at the ceiling because the yell hurt my head even more.

"Fine," I grumbled and entered the kitchen only to be pulled into a tight hug.

"You should be dead right now and it's a miracle that you're not. Why did you go in the enclosure anyways?" Preacher questioned me rapidly while squeezing the air out of my lungs.

"Let's just say I didn't go in willingly," I muttered before pushing away from him to get some air. "I'm all right though, so no worries, how about some breakfast though?" I asked him even though he still gave me a disbelieving look.

"Crazy girl," he grumbled before fixing me a plate of pancakes and a cup of coffee.

"You're the best, Preacher," I told him with a smile and left the kitchen to go sit by Carter, who was staring me down. "Question time round two," I thought sitting down between Carter and Tom.

"What were you thinking? Those things are hunting in packs, why you're not dead is unexplainable," Carter immediately started ranting at me with the glare never leaving his face.

"Oh it's explainable, but nobody would believe me, they're mermen and a mermaid," I thought.

"Glad you're ok," Tom said and I gave him a genuine smile.

"Thanks Tom, but I'm still not happy with you about the shark getting out the other day," I told him with a smile that slowly turned into a smirk, which grew when he groaned and pouted at me. "So what is the plan for today?" I questioned Carter ready to get down to business.

"The doc wants to do the experiment tonight," Carter muttered unhappily.

"Oh this is going to go bad, I can feel it," I thought and finished my breakfast quickly so I could hurry to my room and get my wetsuit.

The day passed by quickly as Carter and I started getting things ready for capturing a shark and putting it in the lab area. The storm was still rushing towards the facility, which made the water foggy and barely visible. Tom raised the fences and I helped Carter get the tranquilizer gun ready for the experiment tonight. The doc wanted me in the lab with her and the others, but I was here to help Carter with the sharks, not stand there bored.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Carter asked me with the tranquilizer gun in his hand.

Giving him a weird look, I said, "Are you kidding me? This is what I live for, now let's go." I zipped up my wetsuit and put on my mask before opening the hatch that we would dive into to get to the sharks.

"You guys are going to have little to no visibility," Tom told us over the walkie talkie system on the masks.

"It's fine," Carter replied before diving into the water with me.

I swam ahead in the tunnels slowly to try to see the sharks. Surprised noises from the lab echoed in my mask as I heard the tunnels being crushed behind me. I looked back and my eyes widened when the two male sharks were on either side of Carter and the tunnel, with the tunnel in their jaws. My eyes had to have played tricks on me when I saw the two male sharks as mermen holding the tunnel in their hands and crushing it.

"Carter, are you all right?" I shouted while looking all over for the female.

"I'm fine," Carter said and raised the tranquilizer gun at the sharks.

The two of us watched in shock as the sharks swam backwards and away from the gun. My vision was still alternating between me seeing actual sharks and mermen. The people in the lab were just as shocked as Carter and I. My eyes widened even more when I could just barely see the sharks destroying the cameras around the enclosure and the tunnel.

"Carter, what's the plan?" I asked him as he stared straight at me.

"Stay in here," he replied before unlocking the tunnel.

"You can't go out there alone, even if you do have the gun," I yelled back with a curse following it as he swam out there alone anyways. I went to swim out of the tunnel but the two mermen appeared in front of me. They blocked my path and I swam backwards in the tunnel to stay out of grabbing range if they did try to grab me.

"Very soon," one of the mermen spoke as he stared at the necklace floating around my neck. He raised his webbed hand and waved it towards me.

A hiss escaped me when I felt the shark tooth on the necklace dig into my wetsuit and my chest over my heart. I tried to swim back further in the tunnel when blood escaped my flesh, but one of the mermen grabbed my ankle and pulled me out of the tunnel and into the enclosure.

"Do not help the humans," one of the mermen growled at me as the teeth on the bracelets on my ankles and wrists also sunk into my skin through the wetsuit. "You don't belong with them anymore," he continued before releasing me in anger.

The mermen stared behind them to see Carter shoot a tranquilizer dart into the female. I took that as my cue to swim towards Carter as fast as I could to help him with the female shark and get away from the males, who surprisingly and worryingly did not follow me. Carter gave me a surprised and annoyed look when I appeared on the other side of the female shark. My eyes once again flashed at the sight of a shark and a mermaid before we got her on the lift that would lift her in the lab. My heart was beating quickly as her eyes stayed trained on me even after I jumped out of the water to stand on the lab floor.

Little droplets of blood splashed onto the lab floor and Russell rushed over to see if I was bitten anywhere. I pushed his hands away as politely as I could, and thankfully he went back to paying attention to the shark. Everyone was tense as the doctor started the procedure. However, all I could do was stare at the mermaid that was smirking at me from the water where Carter stood by her unknowingly.

"You're ours now," the mermaid said softly and I turned away when the doctor went to insert the creepy tools into the mermaid's brain.


	7. Chapter 7

I do not own Deep Blue Sea. I only own Coral.

Story Start

I dared another look back when I saw the doctor removing the machinery from the shark's head. My eyes kept playing tricks as the image kept changing from a shark to a mermaid. Carter was still in the water with the shark keeping her calm, but I knew she was anything but calm, she was calculating. The gleam in her eyes made a shiver travel down my spine, but a hiss left me when the shark tooth on the necklace dug back into my skin over my chest quickly.

Carter looked over at me when he saw the blood dropping to the ground from my wrists and ankles. "What happened? Were you bitten?" he asked me while rubbing a hand on the mermaid's arm unknowingly.

"I'm fine, just a scratch, don't worry about it," I told him while looking over to see the doctors and everyone else watching a screen. They were all talking about the brain firing because of the experiment, and then I saw Jim kiss Janice. "Her experiment worked then," I thought and looked back at the mermaid as Jim walked around the water.

He lit up a cigarette and crouched down in front of the shark. He was smirking at the mermaid, who was still staring straight at me. He said something to the shark, but I couldn't hear him because of the words that were now echoing in my mind.

The mermaid looked up at me and whispered, "Yours ours," before she switched back to the shark image and bit off one of Jim's arms.

"Carter," I screamed and rushed to the water to pull him out of there as the female shark started thrashing around to get free. "Inform the tower of Jim's injury," I shouted at Tom, who immediately turned to the computers.

Janice rushed over with a ghostly pale face as she reached Jim, who was crawled away from the shark. Glass breaking made me look behind me to see Carter grabbing a shotgun. He raised the gun at the same time that Dr. McCallister pressed the button to release the shark back into the enclosure. The rushing water blocked any shot Carter could take to kill it as the shark swam out of danger.

"Coral, run up top and check on the sharks the best you can," Dr. McCallister screamed and I gave her a shocked look.

"What does she want me to do? Stare at black water and just expect the sharks to show themselves and wave hello," I thought angrily as I rushed out of the lab to get away from the smell of the blood. It was bothering me, and it shouldn't have.

The storm was full force when I reached the surface. The walkways were slippery because of all the water rushing across them and onto them thanks to the storm. The water was too choppy to see any type of shark fin, and I was not going to risk my life because the doctor wanted to make sure her experiments were safe. "Now if only she knew they were mermaids," I thought angrily as I raised the fences higher just as a precaution.

"Don't help the humans, you are ours," a male voice shouted as the shark teeth dug more into my skin.

"I'm no one's," I growled as I turned on a few lights so the rescue helicopter could see where to come pick up Jim's stretcher, which was coming out of the elevator. I helped Carter wave down the helicopter and we got Jim ready to be lifted away from the facility. My nerves were extremely on edge thanks to the yells coming from the mermen, who kept saying I was theirs and that all of the humans would die.

Janice didn't want to let him go, but I pulled her away from the stretcher so the helicopter could start lifting him away. The waves were now harshly crashing over the walkway. I shoved Janice into Dr. McCallister's arms and grabbed Carter before he slipped off the side. We gave one last look at Jim before making our way back to the elevator. Russell pressed the button to close the elevator and lower it back to the lab.

Carter pulled me into a hug and I froze in shock before gently patting his back. He pulled back and looked at Janice, who was crying and shaking. Everyone in the elevator was shook up from what they just witnessed, but I was more concerned with what the mermen and that mermaid were going to do next. They obviously had been planning for a while now how to kill everyone. Destroying the cameras was just the first part.

"Carter, this isn't the end of it," I whispered to him as we exited the elevator and walked back into the lab.

"What do you mean? That was just a freak attack," Carter told me as he walked towards the large glass that looked into the test shark enclosure.

"It's not the end," I thought looking down at the water that was still open to the enclosure in the middle of the room.

Tom immediately rushed to work on the computers and get some cameras or communication going, but nothing was working. A loud explosion shook the facility and threw off everyone's balance. Janice fell back into the water and I dove in after her. Carter was at the edge of the water as he pulled us out while debris and computers fell around us.

After we were pulled out of the water and far away from the edge, the explosions slowly ceased. Janice and Tom tried to get the computers working again while Carter was trying to contact Brenda, the woman who worked in the tower. However, Russell and I only had eyes for the glass in front of us. A small yellow object was rapidly coming closer and growing bigger.

"Jim," I whispered as I watched a smirking merman pushing Jim's stretcher towards us with no intention of stopping. "It's Jim, get away from the glass," I shouted and backed away but no one else moved because of the shock of seeing the shark push Jim towards us.

The sight of Jim hitting the glass with ease made me back up even more, but unfortunately, I was only backing up closer to the water. Russell was also backing up until he was right in front of me. Jim's collision with the glass made spider web cracks start appearing all along the glass. The large chunk of glass hitting the lab floor put everyone in motion. Russell backed into me making my decision before I even got the chance to run to the door.

Hearing Tom yell my name was the last thing I heard before I fell into the water. I dove down further when I saw the water above me being disturbed by all the water now rushing into the lab. My only hope now was to swim to the surface. The water was still terribly foggy as I swam close to the side of the facility. The lights on the facility were my only guide as I held my breath.

"Coral," a female voice said slowly and I spun around to see the mermaid swimming contently in front of me. "Come here," she said sweetly and I slowly kept swimming up towards the surface. I still had a ways to go, but I could hold my breath for a long time.

"You belong with us now, you belong to the ocean," the mermaid said again before rushing towards me and grabbing my hands.

A little bit of my breath escaped me from the force that she used to swing me into more open water and I was quickly wrapped up in two strong arms. The male with dark blue grey hair smirked at me before placing his hand on the place where the shark tooth was still embedded in my chest.

"It's time," he said as a green light glowed around his hand.

All my air rushed from me as I screamed at the hot pain lancing through my heart. The mermaid was smiling with a little bit of happiness as my vision became darker. My tears mixed with the salt water as I fell unconscious in his arms.


	8. Chapter 8

I do not own Deep Blue Sea. I only own Coral.

Story Start

A sharp metallic smell made me snap my eyes open as consciousness finally returned to me. My eyes widened even more when I realized that I had been floating under the water for who knows how long. I looked around but I did not see any of the mermen or the mermaid. Looking above me, a gasp left me at the sight of Preacher's leg gripped by the mermaids sharp fingernails and she was pulling him around the enclosure.

"I shouldn't be able to breathe right now," was my first thought before I swam up towards the surface. When I reached the top of the water, I saw Dr. McCallister and Carter standing on a walkway watching Preacher with horrified expressions. "Get the gun out of the boat," I screamed at Carter, snapping them out of their shock.

"Coral, you're alive, how?" Dr. McCallister screamed.

I would have replied back to her but I was too focused on swimming as fast as I could to help Preacher escape the mermaid. His eyes met mine and I swam even harder when I saw his fear. "They've killed everyone else, they aren't killing you," I thought as I kept getting closer to the mermaid.

"Yours ours, not theirs," the mermaid screamed hysterically. "They killed the others, they all deserve to die," she yelled again as she dug her claws deeper into his leg.

"You don't have the right to decide that," I yelled and kicked her in the face. I smirked as she let go of Preacher and the harpoon from the gun shot into her side. "Preacher, give me your hand," I shouted and tried to grab him to pull him away from the shark.

"Coral," Preacher gasped in pain as he grabbed my hand, and he was pulled closer to me. "We thought you died," he muttered as I wrapped an arm around his waist and started swimming as fast as I could to the walkway with Carter.

"You can't kill me that easily," I told him with a small smile before frowning when I realized that Dr. McCallister was no longer with Carter.

"Susan, no," Carter yelled in shock.

Preacher was also yelling in worry at whatever Dr. McCallister was doing behind us, which is where Preacher was looking. I just stayed focused on getting Preacher to the safety of the walkway since his leg was still bleeding.

"Get back over here," Carter shouted as I pushed Preacher up onto the walkway.

Preacher pulled himself further up on the walkway and Carter helped him wrap his leg wound quickly. I pushed myself up onto the walkway as well before a weird feeling settled over me. My skin started to feel itchy, like it had small spiders crawling all over it. My breathing also became shorter and quicker as I stood out in the hot sun baring down upon us amongst the chaos.

"Coral, get the doctor now," Carter ordered as he readied the gun again.

I looked around the facility to spot Dr. McCallister holding a sharp object and slicing her palms. The doctor was focusing on the female shark, who was ramming into the fence, which was thankfully higher than normal since I raised it before all of this mess started.

"Dr. McCallister don't you dare," I shouted as I started running around the walkway and jumped over debris, even though it was harder since my breathing was still being weird and slightly difficult.

"Someone has to distract her, Coral," Dr. McCallister said calmly as she started letting some of her blood drip into the water.

"Sure distract her, not throw yourself at her as a free meal," I screamed before feeling my heart freeze when the doctor jumped into the water and started swimming out towards the shark. It was torture to see the realization and fear cross her face when the doctor realized she created her own death.

"Carter," Dr. McCallister shouted but it was already too late.

I turned away when the shark reached the doctor and ate her. Carter's angry scream made me cringe. I ran back over to Preacher and Carter and helped Carter ready the gun again but this time with something to get rid of the shark once and for all.

"Carter, don't miss," I told him before crouching down to check on Preacher's wound. The smell of the blood was making me dizzy and not in a grossed out way, but more in a hungry way. I gave him a small reassuring smile as Carter lined up the shot at the shark.

Looking behind me all I could see was a smirking mermaid as she crashed and clawed at the fence repeatedly. It was horrible to watch her struggling for freedom, but thanks to the doctors and experiments here she would just be a bloodthirsty machine.

The mermaid's eyes looked at me one last time before Carter shot the explosive at her. "You're ours, always ours," she mouthed before exploding into many shark pieces.

A shiver traveled down my spine even as her blood rained down upon us along with a few guts and shark parts. Carter and Preacher just laid back on the broken walkway with a tired sigh of relief. The itching and difficulty breathing were increasing every minute I was on the walkway with the others.

"Coral, how did you survive? Last time I saw you, you fell back in the water with the sharks," Carter asked me.

"I have no clue, but let's just be happy I did survive," I gasped out and rubbed my throat as the itchy feeling started up in my throat.

"Well look who's here," Preacher said with a tired chuckle. He pointed out to the boat that was returning with most of the workers, who were still partying it up on the boat.

"Best weekend ever," I said plopping down to sit on the walkway between the two tired and injured men. "Let's never do this again," I finished before looking out at the water all around us. The itchy feeling was only intensifying as the people on the boat rushed over to us and helped us get on the boat to head back to the mainland since there was no reason to go into the facility, especially not when Preacher was still bleeding. The sight and smell of his blood was still bothering me, and it should not have.

"Must have something to do with what the mermaid did to me," I thought as I sat on the boat that was being loaded with Preacher and Carter. "What did they do to me?" I wondered while gazing over the side of the boat the ocean below. My hand slipped down to touch the wonderfully cool salt water.

The itching ceased on my fingers when they touched the water, but the itching only intensified on the rest of my body. Carter sat down beside me as I saw another one of those shell bracelets race past under the water. I barely gasped as I leaned more over the boat to see what was moving the bracelet. All of the mermen and mermaids had to have died from the facility. There was no way they were alive.

"So ready to actually be on land for once," Carter mumbled from beside me.

"Yeah," I whispered before clutching a hand to my throat when it closed up completely. I looked over to Carter for help, but he could only shout as something reached out of the water and pulled me off that boat. I could see him trying to dive off the boat after me, but some of the other workers stopped him.

"You're the one they chose," a male voice said calmly in the water below after we were too deep away from the boat. "Breathe," the voice said again as I turned to look down at another merman.

He had long dark blue hair and a shark tail as well. He had more scars and tribal type markings all over his chest and arms. The same necklace that adorned my neck rested on his neck as well. His black eyes stared me down relentlessly as I slowly took in a breathe under water.

"What did they do to me?" I spoke softly after discovering that breathing under water felt as easy as breathing above water.

"They changed you into one of us, your changes will be slow, but you no longer belong up there," he told me and put my own hand on my neck, where small gills were moving.

"Well isn't this a mess," I thought before glancing further down where shockingly more mermen and mermaids were swimming and watching me. With one last look to the surface, I took a deep breath to calm myself. "So what happens now?" I questioned the merman, who smirked at me.

"You come home," he said and took my hand gentler this time to pull me deeper into the ocean's depths to join the other mermen and mermaids.

The End


End file.
